The full press release:
Little Orbit revealed today that they will be bringing best-selling author Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy series Mistborn to games late next year for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Windows PC and Mac.
Mistborn is set in a dark world of ash, mist, and gothic fantasy creatures, dominated by a seemingly immortal villain known as the Lord Ruler. It also follows individuals who use a powerful rule-based magic system known as Allomancy that allows them to temporarily enhance their physical and mental abilities by ingesting and “burning” flakes of metal. Those who have the ability to burn a single metal are called Mistings, and those who can burn all metals are known as Mistborn.
The upcoming RPG video game will feature an original storyline created by Sanderson, set several hundreds of years before the first Mistborn novel, and will focus on a unique combat system that puts Allomancy into the hands of gamers. Players will suit up as Fendin “Fiddle” Fathvell, an arrogant young nobleman who must quickly master his newfound Allomantic abilities before forces at work can destroy his entire family.
“I’m a huge fan of the series, and I cannot wait to get this into the hands of gamers,” said Matthew Scott, CEO of Little Orbit. “Between the distinctive magic system, the story twists Brandon has planned for the game, and the rich depth of character skills, we’re creating something very unique for players to enjoy.”
Sanderson is no stranger to video games. He recently completed story development on the Infinity Blade II video game including the accompanying Infinity Blade: Awakening novella. In between writing his popular Mistborn and Stormlight novels, he is also finishing work on the final novel in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. Sanderson has been labeled “one of the most popular new fantasy writers to emerge in the last ten years.”
“As an avid gamer, I’m extremely excited by this opportunity,” said Sanderson. “The chance to write the story for a Mistborn game while working with a team of talented developers is, quite literally, living a dream.”
I caught some hints of this when I had dinner with Sanderson a few months ago, though I suspected at the time that the announcement would come from from Chair Entertainment, a division of Epic Games that is responsible for Shadow Complex (based on a universe created by Orson Scott Card) and Infinity Blade, a popular iPhone/iPad series that Sanderson has been involved with (including a novella he wrote set in the universe, bridging the stories between the two games). I’m unfamiliar with Little Orbit, the publishers of Mistborn: Birthright and, given their meagre 48 ‘Likes’ on Facebook, I expect you are, too. Mistborn: Birthright is being developed by Game Machine Studios.
The Mistborn universe is ripe for a videogame adaptation, so let’s hope that this relatively unknown development team can do justice to Sanderson’s creativity and vision. It makes sense that they’d choose to develop this game as a ‘prequel’ to the novels, allowing gamers to explore the Mistborn world that they’re familiar with from the first novel, The Final Empire, rather than what it has become in The Alloy of Law, and Sanderson’s involvement in the creation of the storyline is encouraging. What do you hope for from the game?
Mistborn: Birthright is set for release in Fall, 2013 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Mac. For more information, visit the official website of Mistborn: Birthright.
